Thousands of farmers protest land eviction in Guangdong province

Thousands of farmers demonstrated against a land eviction in China’s southern Guangdong province, with clashes erupting after police detained some protestors, a rights group said.

Four villagers were rounded up by police on Thursday after the farmers tried to block bulldozers from levelling about 670 hectares of land near Sanshangang village, the Empowerment and Rights Institute said.

On Saturday, the third consecutive day of protests, demonstrators surrounded Sanshangang’s public security bureau demanding the release of the arrested protestors, said Maggie Hou, an official with the independent institute.

“Some 200 demonstrators began the protest on Saturday, but by the evening several thousand protesters had arrived, with farmers from other areas also joining in,” Hou told AFP.

Around 600 police watched as protesters shouted slogans and carried banners that said “give our land back” and “the land law should be implemented equally”, Hou said.

At least one person, identified as Shao Shuntian, was arrested after clashes broke out with the law enforcement officers.

An independent American photographer, Scott Gorman, was also detained on Saturday by local police but was released later in the day.